Network delays happen when unexpected events occur. A train derailment stops everything, as does an interruption to the power supply. We currently have building works happening next door, which means our train modelling process has been temporarily derailed, along with access to a hot cup of tea!  Oh, for the days of steam trains and hot water readily available.

Even the surveying process has been delayed as we have to stay close to where the action is, otherwise who knows what we would find on our return? The yard is starting to resemble a rabbit warren. This may be unrelated as it is nearly Easter and the Easter Bunny’s apprentices may have gone into overdrive to increase production in readiness for express deliveries. Umm, chocolate!

Which brings to mind the Maldon Easter Fair and the opportunity to go and mix with friends there and have some fun. The old poppet head fire tower is lit up on the Thursday evening before the Easter holidays, the local legend being that it is the Easter Bunny’s house. The tower on Mt. Tarrengower gives an excellent overview of the township, including the railway yards. Then the celebrations continue for the rest of the long weekend. Everyone is welcome.

In the meantime, we have to reschedule our work process. Back to the storyboard and a light-hearted idea using words and sketches, which can utilize other art assets from the major project for a multi-media presentation sometime further down the track. This is a project independent of the train simulator but related to it. It could become part of an advertising package for the game or it may be stand alone entertainment. Either way, it is a bit of fun and can be brought to completion sooner if we desire, production schedule permitting.

We expect to be burning the midnight oil for a while, to try and catch up to where we anticipated being by now. We may be able to extract a small supply from the J Class oil burner locomotive at Maldon. Perhaps not, or it might not make the distance of the return journey. It’s just not right to expect the paying passengers to push it into the station!

A virtual locomotive can be created using a CAD application or by modeling in an artistic modeling package such as Modo. We have decided to use a Computer Assisted Drafting package for the initial development of mechanical models, as this gives greater flexibility for further usage in gaming applications.

The first step in this process is obtaining copies of the original drawings used to construct a real locomotive. Railway organizations interested  in preserving the history of rail travel can be a good source of information, but records may be incomplete in any one place. The plans can also be faded and with the odd patch of engine grease obscuring essential details. Photographing the plans and using post processing, such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, to enhance critical measurements of dimensions assists in recovering the information needed to construct a model.

Many thanks to the staff at the Goldfields Railway workshops for making their mechanical drawings available to us. Their assistance with the photography of the locomotive overview plan was very much appreciated. A large sheet in the small space had a few challenges to overcome so we went outside. The first attempt, using fridge magnets to attach the sheet to the side of a locomotive tender didn’t work very well: the wind kept blowing the edges up and lifting the magnets off!

Back inside, we quite literally took over the tea room. Somebody said that it hadn’t looked so tidy since the Christmas party. But there was no blu-tack to be found, so the sheet couldn’t be stuck on the end wall. The notice board on the side wall was close but just fitted the entire sheet into the frame. Then we captured greater detail in segments, to recover faded information to make it easier to recreate the drawings using modern CAD techniques. The judicious removal of a few drawing pins anchoring other things displayed on the notice board kept the overview plan in place.

Subsequently, an offer was made to provide us with the computer files of all the plans that they had already scanned in. We arrived at the appointed time and found the workshop crew hard at work refueling the locomotive. Once done, we all went inside to where the computer resides.

Note to self: never, ever, go anywhere without a memory stick!